Mario Williams again blames performance on wrist injury

Posted by Mike Florio on October 3, 2012, 10:04 PM EST

AP

So why hasn’t defensive end Mario Williams done much during his first four games in Buffalo? He says he’s got an injury.

“It’s just a little deal going on, but we’ve already mentioned that before,” Williams said Wednesday, via USA Today. “It’s just lingering a little longer than I expected and I just [need to] get back out there and try to deal with it and play better with it.”

He’s referring to a wrist injury, and he indeed mentioned it after Week One. But no injury to Mario Williams has been disclosed by the Bills, at any time. Based on the way Williams talks about it, the injury apparently should have been.

“I’m a hands-on player and it’s all about power in my game,” Williams said. “It’s just been a little odd having a little nick or whatever and not being able to use it to the full extent, but you know, you gotta play. When you’re out there on Sunday, you gotta play regardless of what’s going on.”

Williams originally suffered the injury in the preseason.

“It’s definitely frustrating for it to happen when it did happen and not when anything counted, I think that was the biggest thing,” Williams said. “But it’s fine, like I said, it just limits you and it’s kind of frustrating.”

It’s more than “kind of frustrating” for Bills fans. Williams hasn’t been what they thought he’d be, and regardless of how much the injury is affecting him, it creates the impression that he’s making excuses for subpar performance.

This is exactly why the Texans were willing to let him walk. He always had some sort of nagging injury and he would completely disappear for multiple games at a time. Apparently the Bills didn’t do their homework before giving him that huge contract.

I loved Mario as a Texan. Rode the Mario train from day 1. Defended the texans pick with my life. After all that, wasn’t too sad to see him go. I got tired of defending how good he was supposed to be. He’s not a max player. Cashed out with a weak free agent class. Mediocre player. Good but not great. Sorry Bills, we got y’all suckers back for that 35-3 comeback on the Oilers.

Mario Williams is one of the most talented DE’s in the history of the sport, but nobody watched Texans games and everyone assumed he was greater than he was in reality. He had a few 10+ sack seasons, but in general he rarely dominated, he’s been wildly overrated, his career plagued by numerous nagging injuries and excuses. There’s a reason his last couple seasons in Houston they worked on replacing him, he wasn’t in their plans moving forward. Not enough production.

Yea, you know maybe he does suck. But site after site listed him as the Top free agent out there in 2012 so it wasn’t like it was a no brainier. The reality is who ever goes to Buffalo sucks! Not sure if they fatten up on wings or something. I hear people telling me here in Buffalo that we should have taken Grokowski in the 2nd round before NE. Well you know what if he came here he would have sucked. He wouldn’t be doing what he is doing. This team needs character player, not also rans. We are 12 months from the beginning of the next 4 year rebuilding plan.

91devinhester23 says:Oct 3, 2012 11:46 PM

didnt von miller rack up complete sack destruction last year with one arm in a cast?

This guy sucks. I don’t know why people tried to defend him the first three weeks pretending he was attracting attention and getting double teamed. He’s 1on 1 every play and is completely invisible. Rock bottom when he cried about that Jets slug being mean and punching him in his fat mellon head

It’s common sense! Why would anyone in their right mind leave Houston, a team obviously on the rise and in contention, as we saw how far they got with a third stringer, for Buffalo! Even the weather is ten times worse. Anyone could see at the time he only cared about the $$, and how he handled the entire situation, he seems like a player that not only just cares about the money, but got his and decided to chill. Just like so many players before him, latest example I can think of, although their are inevitably countless more, is Brandon Jacobs. Got paid, and while was older and on the down hill, he completely checked out, stopped running hard, you could tell he still had it in him, went side to side instead of powering over dudes cause he got his and cared more bout not getting hurt and became lazy. Everyone going hard against owners for taking stands on contracts, these are the reasons they do. Players and owners are both right to a certain extent but players getting paid and then checking out is simply inexcusable. The shell of CJ2k might be another one, although it could be the line plus a legit lessening of skills or teams game planning but regardless he isn’t hitting holes as hard. Vincent Jackson may turn out to be another, don’t know yet. But MAN its the most frustrating thing.

as a REAL texans fan (not a bandwagoneer) im entirely happy mario is gone besides a 13 sack season he did nothing. if you give me a choice between waaaaaaaaaaatt or wiliams no choice. and im glad knowing that mario knows that jj is a better player with heart and we are a super bowl team and mario will now probly never even come close to the playoffs. greed ruined his career, sure hes set for a good part of his life but his legacy is ruined. a disgrace to what could have been an unprecidented career.

peytonsneck18 says:Oct 4, 2012 12:50 AM

That what happens when u pay a non star qb player 100i million ….smells of Haynesworth

wolfmanpatriot says:Oct 4, 2012 12:53 AM

Good thing the Bills are paying mario by the year and not for each phantom injury, eh?

I’d take this more seriously if not for watching Von Miller win Defensive Rookie of the Year with his broken hand in a club-cast for a good part of last year… or, for that matter, if Mario weren’t constantly being caught out of position. A hurt wrist doesn’t explain why players blow right by him.

macjacmccoy says:Oct 4, 2012 1:40 AM

The problem isnt his wrist its the the defense he plays on. When he was in Houston he obviously was the main focus of offenses. There’s no debating that, but he was also playing along side some extremely talented players, not the least of which being 2 former defensive rookies of the year who have attended multiple pro bowls since winning the award in Brian Cushing and Demecco Ryans. Not to mention Shaun Cody, JJ Watt, Johnathan Joseph, and Kareem Jackson.

So even though Mario was the biggest threat, opposing offenses had a lot of other mismatches to worry about. Which means they couldnt always slide protections his way. Giving Williams plenty of 1 on 1 opportunities.

That’s not the case in Buffalo. Mario Williams is still the number 1 focus of opposing offenses and rightfully so. Just like in Houston he is the best defensive player on his team. But unlike in Houston he is the best by a WIDE margin. Meaning teams are free to chip, slide protections, keep a TE in , and double team him on nearly every play with impunity. Something he has never had to deal with against NFL caliber players.

So I dont find it as a shock that his production is way down in comparison to his time with the Texans. The only thing I do find as a shock is that people are actually shocked by it.

htfan says:Oct 4, 2012 2:55 AM

From the little I have seen of him in buffalo it looks like they got just what Houston had…an above average talent but average player who easily gets run out of the play and ends up watching it from behind.
He will be dominant from time to time but not consistently and contrary to many claims he does not consistently draw double teams.

ilovefoolsball says:Oct 4, 2012 3:16 AM

My my how thing have changed since everyone thought Houston was so brilliant to take him over Bush with the #1 pick.

Makes me glad the Bears pulled out of the chase for Williams. Texans and Bears front four seem to be doing just fine without him. Shows that players shouldn’t always go for $$ and should go for better chance at winning a title.

I disagree. The last game. Mario was doubled one time, chipped 3 times..left 1 on 1 the rest of the time and, battled 1 on 1 with a
TE as well. Sometimes you have to have some pride, shut up and play.

After the jets game, same thing. Doubled twice, 1 on 1 the rest of the way. He complained loudly about gettng hands to his face…so? It’s football. Smack the hands away. Unfortunately, Mario is all about excuses. If the wrist is sooo bad, take a couple of games off to heal. It’s not like the Bills are going to miss him out there.

joetoronto says:Oct 4, 2012 6:09 AM

Bills management caved to the fan frenzy that was going on at the time.

They severely overpaid.

I remember some Bills fans comparing him to Bruce Smith, Bruce Smith!

SMH.

str8up12 says:Oct 4, 2012 7:01 AM

For a team with ONE playoff appearance, Houston fans sure like to do a lot of chest thumping.

This is why it’s not a good idea in football to pay any player particularly a DE this kind of money. If they keep him around by next year they’ll have to start cutting good players for cap reasons.
How’s TB doing with all their FA signings? Build through the draft.

Albert Hayesworth 2.0, just saying he was the man with a million and one excuses. What team is he on now?

htowntexan says:Oct 4, 2012 10:21 AM

while his lack of production is not surprising to me, I wish him nothing but the best and hope that he can turn it around and be a great player for buffalo (except when we play him). mario was always a stand-up guy here in houston.

A wrist injury? Looked like he had a case of “Vollmer-itis”. Apparently it causes severe blockage and sometimes paralysis.

macjacmccoy says:Oct 5, 2012 3:05 PM

I appreciate that stubby.

But you also have to take into account the offensive play calls. He could be singled but if the offense rolls the qb the opposite direction it is virtually impossible for a DE from the opposite side to get to the qb. Also even when you are singled if the o line shifts it makes it harder for DE thats on the side they shift to and easier for the one they shift away from. My whole point was that opposing offenses can do all these subtle things now to take Mario out of the game that they couldnt do in Houston bc they had players that could take advantage of it that Buffalo simply doesnt. No one can tell me having superstar team mates doesnt make your job a hell of a lot different. Just ask Alvin Harper.

But I do agree he does need to stop talking about his wrist and shut up and play. The wrist talk is just a BS excuse bc he cant really use the legit excuse of the team he plays for because it was his decision to take the money over staying on a team where he had a better chance to succeed.